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Today’s financial services institutions are challenged to keep pace with changing and covert cybersecurity threats. Since financial institutions are among some of the most appealing targets for hackers, it is critical for these organisations to remain extra vigilant about securing confidential information.

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), an agency of the US Department of Commerce promoting innovation and industrial competitiveness, and cybersecurity tech specialist NextLabs have partnered to develop a framework for implementing and administering access rights management (ARM) in the financial services sector.

Elizabeth Denham, the UK’s information commissioner, made an astute point when she recently called for senior bank executives to get the same cybersecurity training as front-line staff, following the global WannaCry ransomware attack. But implementing the kind of comprehensive cyber defence strategy which includes such training will require a monumental culture shift at the top.

In the 1600s, Spain built an impregnable defence system to protect the San Juan Bay in Puerto Rico. This defence in-depth system fortified San Juan with three lines of defence, marking a high point in military engineering for the time period. A similar model could be used to protect your institution’s account holders from today’s cyberattacks. But with 15.4 million Americans falling victim to identity fraud last year, three lines of defence are no longer enough.

If you’ve got preconceptions about what fintech looks like and where it’s happening, then Aleksey Chubar, head of digital transformation at VTB, has news for you. Russia is becoming a hotbed of fintech innovation – not just domestically, but internationally too. More than that, the rapid pace of technological change in the country means you’ll soon wonder how you got left behind.